Social dating

• US 9,609,072 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Issued: 03/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Louis, Jennifer Jordan, Adams, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hoffler, Raheem
• Application Number:
  US13/797,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20140279066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,477 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Systems and methods for social dating are provided. In particular, some embodiments provide recommendations for connections (i.e., candidate users) based on a user'"'"'s social graph. These recommendations can identify potential single individuals that may be good matches for dating or can identify individuals with other commonalities or shared experiences to create dialog. For example, the recommendations for a user can include single individuals that are friends of a friend. The user can be presented with information about the recommendation and then ask for an introduction from the user'"'"'s friend. As another example, the recommendations can be based on subject matter selected by the user (e.g., twins, cancer, phone type, etc.) with or without any friendship connections. The user may also be able to filter or further refine the searches based on other criteria such as interests, location, age, and/or other constraints. Rewards can be provided in some cases to encourage participation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining a social graph for members of a social network, the social graph including different types of connections between members of the social network, each type of connection based on an action performed by each member of the social network, wherein at least some of the different types of connections include a friendship connection;

receiving a request from a first member of the social network to identify individual candidate users, from the members of the social network, for introduction to the first member, wherein the request includes a request to identify, for the individual candidate users, at least one candidate user associated with a third-party service, wherein the third-party service is a dating service;

identifying, using the social graph from the social network, a set of candidate users that match a preference set and include the at least one candidate user associated with the third-party service, said identifying including ranking the set of candidate users based on the preference set and selecting a subset of the set of candidate users for the first member;

populating a graphical user interface with profile information about the subset of the set of candidate users selected for the first member;

receiving, from the first member via the graphical user interface, an introduction request for one or more connector members from the social network to introduce the first member to a specific candidate user of the subset of the set of candidate users, the one or more connector members being a common friend of the first member and the specific candidate user;

identifying and displaying, within the graphical user interface, the one or more connector members associated with the specific candidate user, thereby being suitable for introducing the first member to the specific candidate user, wherein the one or more connector members are identified using the social graph from the social network;

receiving, from the first member, a connection request within the graphical user interface, the connection request requesting a specific connector member, from the one or more connector members, to connect the first member to the specific candidate user;

facilitating communications between the first member and the specific candidate via the specific connector member; and

monitoring the preference set of the set of candidate users and notifying the first member of any changes to the set of candidate users, wherein users in the set of candidate users are not connections of the first member.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the preference set includes a relationship status of single or unknown.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the each candidate user in the set of candidate users has a first profile with the social network and a second profile with the third party service.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the profile information regarding the subset of candidate users is collected from the first profile and the second profile.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the profile information includes only public information from the first profile.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific connector member is a common friend of the first member and specific candidate user.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying advertisements within the social network requesting members participate with the third-party service; and

providing rewards to any member that participates with the third-party service.

8. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

a processor;

a database having stored thereon a plurality of data about members, objects, and connections within a social network and a social graph based on the plurality of data about members, objects, and connections, the social graph including different types of connections between members of the social network, each type of connection being based on an action performed by each member of the social network;

an application programming interface (API) server configured to receive information that identifies a subset of the individual members that are associated with a third-party service and the social network, wherein the information also includes a third-party profile for each member in the subset of members;

an identification module configured to generate a set of candidate users for a first member of the social network, wherein the set of candidate users are selected from the subset of individual members that match a preference set and are associated with the third-party service and the social network, the identification module further configured to rank the set of candidate users based on the preference set and to select a subset of the set of candidate users for the first member; and

a graphical user interface generation module configured to generate a graphical user interface screen with profile information regarding each candidate user in the subset of candidate users, present one or more connector members suitable for introducing the first member to a specific candidate user of the subset of candidate users, and to facilitate communications between the first member and the specific candidate user through the one or more connector members, the one or more connector members being a common friend of the first member and the specific candidate user, wherein the identification module is further configured to monitor the preference set of the set of candidate users and notify the first member of any changes to the set of candidate users, wherein users in the set of candidate users are not connections of the first member.

9. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, further comprising an advertisement module configured to generate advertisements requesting the members of the social network participate with the third-party service.

10. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, further comprising a permissions module communicably coupled to the identification module and configured to identify permissions set by each candidate user in the subset of candidate users regarding profile information that can be shared.

11. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, further comprising a filtering module configured to reduce the set of candidate users based on one or more filter criteria.

12. The computer-implemented system of claim 11, wherein the filter criteria includes a location, relationship status, medical experience, or life experience.

13. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, further comprising a rewards module configured to determine one or more rewards based on participation of the first member with the third-party service.

14. The computer-implemented system of claim 8, wherein the third-party service is a dating service.

15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

maintaining a social graph for individual members of a social network, the social graph including different types of connections between members of the social network, each type of connection being based on an action performed by each member of the social network, wherein the different types of connections include a friendship connection;

generating a database of profile information regarding a subset of members of the individual members of the social network that are also participating with a third-party service, wherein the profile information includes data from a social network profile and a third-party service profile;

receiving a request from a first member, of the subset of members, to identify a set of candidate users that include the subset of members of the social network and the third-party service, wherein the first member has agreed to participate with the third-party service;

generating a graphical user interface screen that allows the first member specify a preference set;

identifying, upon receiving the preference set, the set of candidate users to be presented to the first member through the graphical user interface, wherein identifying the set of candidate users uses the profile information stored in the database and the social graph of the social network, said identifying including ranking the set of candidate users based on the preference set and selecting a subset of the set of candidate users for the first member;

identifying and presenting, in the graphical user interface screen, one or more connector members for one or more candidate users along with a subset of the profile information, wherein the one or more connector members are identified using the social graph from the social network, the one or more connector members being a common friend of the first member and a candidate user in the set of candidate users; and

facilitating, through the graphical user interface screen, communication between the first member and the candidate user through the one or more connector members; and

monitoring the preference set of the set of candidate users and notifying the first member of any changes to the set of candidate users, wherein users in the set of candidate users are not connections of the first member.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the profile information includes public information from the social network profile.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

displaying advertisements within the social network requesting members participate with the third-party service; and

providing rewards to any member that participates with the third-party service.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising updating the set of candidate users based on changes to profile information associated with each of the candidate users.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the preference set includes a relationship status of single.